Gas-pipe-manipulating apparatus



W. RICHTER. GAS PIPE MANIPULAILNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2ll 192|.

Patented Allg. 29, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l WITNESSM W. RICHTER.

@As PIPE MAmPuLATm'G'APPAATus. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21. 192|.

- 1,427,699.. Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

2 SHEETShNlEET 2.

ATTORNEY WILLAM RGI-ITER, OF LEAVENVORT, KANSAS.

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Application ied June 21,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, lVrLLrAM RICHTER, a citizen oit the United States, residing at Leavenworth, in the county ot Leavenworth and State ot Kansas, have invented lnew and useful Improvements in Gas-Fipe-Manipu-l lating Apparatus, of which the Yfollowing is a specification.

The object oi"- my present invention is the provision of an apparatus for manipulating gas pipe--i e., pulling, pushing and raising the same, and this more particularly while the pipe is in the ground.

AThe apparatus is designed to quickly accomplish the purpose for which it is intended and is adapted tobe operated to advantage with but little effort on the part of the operator. f

To the attainment of the foregoing, the invention consists in the improvement as hereinafter described and definitely claimed.

ln the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specitication:--

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus constituting the best practical embodiment of my invention that l have as yet devised.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section of the apparatus, taken in the plane indicated by the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical view ou a reduced scale showing` the location of my novel apparatus when the same is put into use.

Similar numerals ot reference designate corresponding parts in all ot the views of the drawings.

By particular reference to Figure l it will be noted that in one use of my invention and the use for which thc invention is primarily intended, the apparatus is placed. in a hole l in the ground, at the opposite side of a line of curbing 2, with reference to a hole 3, dug in the street so as to uncover the connection between a gas main l and a service pipe 5 extending from the gas main to a house designated by 6. lt frequently happens that the service pipe 5 must be removed because otsome detect, and when this contingency arises, an operator working in the hole 3 separates in some suitable way one end of the service pipe 5 from the main 4. The operator also cuts the service pipe 5 in the hole l, as indicated by 7, and then my Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aun' 1921, Serial No. 479,297.

novel apparatus is arranged in the hole l and the cut out section of the service pine Sis pulled through the medium of my novel apparatus toward the house, this serving to avert the necessity of digging an expensive trench crosswise ot the street and extending from the main el to the point where the second cut in the service pipe 5 is made. The main trame of my novel apparatus may he ot any material and of any type compatible with the purpose ot the invention. l prefer, however, to malte the said ltrame of ironl and to have it comprise among other elements'base bars 8, arranged in parallelism with leach other. in addition to the said base bars 8, the :trame comprises uprights 9 fixed to and rising from the base bars 8, upper longitudinal portions l0 carried between and iiXed with respect to the uprights 9, and appropriate braces ll. The linner uprights 9 are arranged a considerable distance from f the ends of the base bars 8 so that the trame will have a long base, and braces 12 are interposed between the outer ends or the eX- tended portions of the bars 8 and the upper portion of the trame as illustrated. The upper bars l0 are spaced apart for the play ot the hand lever oi the apparatus, and are` are rollers 14: which are preferably reduced from their ends toward their transverse centers and are designed to support a pipe section during thevpulling or pushing thereof.

The pipe4 is made to extend between two fiat pieces 2O ot iron, 6 inches long, and 2% inches wide; these pieces having bolt holes at either end. The top piece has a steel wedge 2l on top, shaped so that if the lever 2Q is pulled backward, it slides upon the wedge. The lower end of the lever is rounded. Pivotally connected to the plates 20 are bars Q3 and 24, and the bars 24 are extended above the plate 2O and are connected through the medium of links 25 with the lower arm of the lever. The lower portions ot the bars Q3 and 24 are each provided with a multiplicity of apertures tor the adjustable connection ot the lower plate 20 to accommodate pipes of various diameters, and interposed between and connected to the lower portion of one of llO the bars 28 and the base bars 8 is a retractile spring 26. Maniiestly when the lever Q2 is rocked by the operator, the plates or jaws 2() will grip the pipe incident to movement of the lower arm of the lever 22 in one direction, and will be disengaged and moved loosely on the pipe when the lower arm of the lever is moved in the opposite direction.

In the practical operation of my novel apparatus `in the relation shown in Figure ll, the apparatus enables an operator to p ull out an old pipe section, and when the apparatus is reversed to push in a new pipe section. It will also be understood that when the apparatus is arranged with its front end over a pump jack, it may be used to advantage to pull a pump pipe out of a well, and this expeditiously and with but little effort on the part of the operator.

Notwithstanding the practical advantages ascribed to my novel apparatus it will be appreciated that the apparatus vembodies but a few parts and is susceptible of being inexpensively manufactured. It will also be appreciated that no delicate parts are embodied in the apparatus, such as are likelyto get out of order after a short period of use.'

I have entered into a detailed description of the construction and relative arrange ment of parts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear and exact understanding of the said embodiment. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to the said specific construction and relative arrangement of parts inasmuch as in the future practice of the invention various changes and modiiications may be made such as fall within the scope of my invention as deiined in my appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by LettersIatent, is

An apparatus for pushing and pulling pipes, comprising a main frame having base bars, uprights, upper spaced portions with transverse apertures and braces, and also comprising .extensions on the base bars and braces between said extensions and the upper portion ot' the Ytrame at one end of said portion, anti-friction rollers mounted in the lower portion of the trame and arranged in spaced relation, and a lever fulcrumed on the upper portion of the frame and equipped at its lower portion with means constructed and arranged to grip a pipe on movement of the lever in one direction and to release the pipe on movement of the lever in the opposite direction; the said means comprising jaws or plates, bars connected thereto, a connection between one pair of bars and the lever, and a retractile spring between the other pair oi bars and the frame.

In testimony whereof Iatlix my signature.

WILLIAM RICHTER. 

